2024-04-25 03:24:09
The Politically Correct panelists talked about the worrying situation of public companies, whose institutional deterioration and economic inefficiency has not stopped since 2016.
The situation of the public companies In the country it has been in decline for almost eight years. Political analysts assure that the president’s recent measure Daniel Noboato reduce the salaries of officials, will not be enough to revitalize strategic sectors. They explain that one of the ways lies in reforming the Organic Law of Public Companies.
In the Politically Correct program on Sunday, March 24, Miguel Garciapresident of the Federation of Public Servants (FEDESEP) and representative of the Confederation of Workers of Ecuador (CTE), highlighted that the problem behind the inefficiency of the public sector lies in the fact that the current regulations for public servants sponsor corruption among officials.
According to García, the article 22 of the Organic Law of Public Service and the 41 of the Organic Law of the General Comptroller of the State They would force a public employee to carry out illegal acts, under the fear that if they do not comply, they will be fired.
What does the regulations really say? The LOSEP establishes the following:
Art. 22.- Duties of public servants: d) Comply with and respect the legitimate orders of hierarchical superiors. The public servant may refuse, in writing, to comply with superior orders that are contrary to the Constitution of the Republic and the Law.
While the Organic Law of the State Comptroller General’s Office says:
Art. 41.- …Public servants may object in writing to the orders of their superiors, expressing the reasons for such objection. If the superior insists in writing, they will comply, but the responsibility will fall on the superior.
García pointed out that the problem of inefficiency and corruption is not recent, but has been going on for years, which has contaminated the entire structure of public companies, making them inefficient.
Gabriela Suárez, executive director of Grupo FAROurged the Government and the Assembly to propose a package of reforms to several articles of the Organic Law of Public Companies (LOEP) with the objective of avoiding acts of corruption and demanding that high-level public officials be evaluated under standards of excellence.
“A citizen must prioritize his ethics and transparency, even more so if he is a public official,” said the director of Grupo Faro.
In that sense, Suárez explained that public companies that are efficient are managed under a corporate governance model; that is, a series of procedures where the best people are qualified to be managers of state entities.
Oswaldo Madrid, engineer and oil expert, said in Politically Correct that a first change to improve the effectiveness of public companies should be to prevent new managers from having political ties. “Public companies cannot be the spoils of governments, a manager must stay away from any political issue.”
Madrid also criticized that President Daniel Noboa does not propose incentives to improve the public sector and, instead, establishes a salary ceiling.
“To improve a public company, high profiles with experience are needed; $5,072 will not be enough to attract a good manager to the public sector, much less when salaries in the private sector are up to three times higher.”
Suárez explained that, on average, the salary of a private official is usually lower than that of a public worker. “Salaries range from $547 to $5,071“The difference is that, in senior positions, such as a director or manager, private remuneration is higher than in the public sector,” added the director of Grupo Faro.
Is closing Petroecuador the best alternative?
Oswaldo Madrid, petroleum engineer and former manager of Petroamazonas, explained that it is unlikely that the largest and most important public company in the country will reactivate its production. In this sense, he suggests substantive measures to the Government.
“A solution could be to close Petroecuador and create a new one with better international standards, which attract investment and remake its internal structure.”
The oil expert assures that creating a public company from scratch would solve the problems of corruption and inefficiency that have deteriorated the oil industry, which has fallen below the 480 thousand barrels per day until March 2024.
On the contrary, Guyanaa country located in the northeast of South America and whose population does not exceed 800 thousand inhabitants, registered in February 2024 an oil production of 640 thousand barrels per day.
Petroecuador, the country’s largest state strategic company, has not improved its crude oil extraction and export capacity in recent years. The Ecuadorian oil industry is in the position 29 del top 30 global from the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA).